These Maxi Pads For Babies Are The Only Thing Keeping My Baby's PJs Dry

When we brought home our newborn baby boy, I looked forward every night to picking out which crisp new pair of footie pajamas he’d wear to bed. After a few nights at home, during our frequent overnight wakings, my husband and I noticed his clothes were wet. Like, a lot. You see, our baby ate constantly, and that means he peed constantly. We found ourselves changing his diapers, adorable footie pajamas, and bassinet sheets at least once overnight or in the morning, and sometimes more than that.

After the first few nights of him peeing on everything, we headed to the store to pick up overnight diapers. Nevertheless, pee persisted, soaking through those diapers as if they were merely the standard issue daytime variety. Worried about our little guy getting diaper rash, and probably sick of hearing me complain about doing so much laundry, my wonderful mom took to the internet and unearthed one of our holy grail parenting products: Sposie pads. We had no idea this whole category of diaper booster pads existed, and we ordered them immediately.

One thing about our kid, who is now almost 2 years old: he still loves a beverage. He is always chugging something, or requesting more “lolly” (water) and “MOLK” (always shouted because running low is an emergency). He would still be peeing through his firetruck jammies if he didn’t wear Sposies. We know this because on the rare nights when we do run out of pads, you can bet by morning there’ll be crib sheets in the washing machine. That’s why we buy these bad boys in bulk.

Stats

• Price: $14.99 for a pack of 32 (about 47 cents per pad), or $32.99 for 96 (about 34 cents per pad)
• Sizes: N-3, 4-6, and 2T to 5T. They correspond to your little one’s diaper or underwear size (the T sizes have an adhesive side to stick to undies).
• Who it’s for: Any age of infant, toddler, or child who fits in diapers or underwear. They also have a line of pads with adhesive for older kids who are potty training or may experience nighttime leaks.

The materials

Sposie diaper booster pads are basically like a maxi pad, but the infant and toddler sizes come without an adhesive side. You just lay them length-wise inside the diaper and put it on like normal. So, what exactly is in this new layer of protection?

According to the Sposie website, their diaper booster pads are designed to have an absorbent core surrounded in layers that channel moisture away from your baby’s skin. The outermost layer is made of spunlace fabric, an ultra-soft and breathable material, and underneath that is a tissue paper layer that helps get all that pee into the inner core (*dun dun*). Deep within a Sposie, you’ll find what the company calls, adorably, fluff pulp. It’s just a cotton-like substance that soaks things up. At the heart of it all lies an absorbent gel that holds in all the liquid ‘til morning.

For parents who like to steer clear of chemicals where they can, these diaper booster pads are 100% free from latex, phthalates, fragrances, and chlorine additives. They’re also hypoallergenic, pediatrician- and dermatologist-approved, and cruelty-free.

How we use Sposie pads

Most parents won’t need an explainer on how to use a pad within a diaper, since postpartum folks have been doing something similar for themselves pretty recently (that irony wasn’t lost on me, even in my sleep-deprived, baby blues haze). But for the sake of being thorough, let’s walk through it: Simply lay the diaper out flat, place the pad inside it, and then slide it under baby’s bum. Tape it all shut as usual and you’re done. We did this every night before bedtime when our baby was just a week or so old, and still do it today.

When our now-toddler wakes up in the morning, both his diaper and Sposie pad are usually pretty soaked. While I can’t say exactly how it all goes down, I *believe* the Sposie soaks up all the pee it can handle, and once it’s at capacity, the rest of the pee just soaks through into the diaper, like usual. What I do know is that his pajamas and sheets stay dry, which is the true mark of success for someone who hates doing laundry. I’ve never had to change him overnight while wearing a Sposie, though we do hustle to get him into a dry diaper in the mornings.

When my son was a baby and dealing with diaper rash, we would add one step to this routine: slap a whole bunch of Desitin or Aquaphor on the side of the Sposie that would lay against his skin, just to create a barrier between it and all that moisture.

Now that our little guy is 2, we do some of his diaper changes standing up. In those cases, I just tape one side of his diaper shut, fold the Sposie in half, and stuff it in the front of his diaper before closing it up. It absorbs just as well both ways, and the doubled-up method also keeps all that pee away from his bum when has a rash. In fact, it works so well at keeping his rash from getting further irritated, we’ve used them this way during the day when his butt looked especially bad (thanks, teething).

Pros & cons

Pros

• Pee that stays in pants seems like an obvious pro.
• Using these, you can skip some of those overnight diaper changes that might rouse your newborn and keep them awake longer.
• The materials are free from many harmful chemicals known to irritate sensitive skin.
• They’re hypoallergenic.
• They’re cruelty-free.
• The smaller sizes are adhesive-free so your baby won’t have any “ouch” moments.
• They help us heal diaper rashes faster by keeping pee away from open skin.
• Amazon reviews say they do work with cloth diapers, if you’re not opposed to using a disposable product.

Cons

• They make your little one’s diaper bulkier. My kid has always been able to easily walk and play while wearing one, but when he’s close to needing the next size up in diapers, things get a little snug.
• If one end of the Sposie is sticking out the front or back of the diaper, it absorbs all the pee, which then leeches right out onto any clothing it’s touching. In short, you will still wake up to a soaked child and crib if everything’s not tucked in well.
• Because they don’t have adhesive on the infant and toddler sizes — the age groups that happen to be the squirmiest — they can shift and fall out during a diaper change.

Final verdict

We have been buying and using Sposies nightly (and sometimes during the day) for two whole years. They’re as much a part of our nighttime routine as diapers themselves, and for whatever reason, they worked for our baby when overnight diapers didn’t. They’re something we’ll keep repurchasing until he’s potty trained, and even then, maybe we’ll use them in his underwear for overnights until we know we’re in the clear.

The TL;DR

Wrestling a pee-soaked fitted sheet off a crib mattress at 4 a.m. has never been my idea of fun. Sposies and their magical fluff pulp mean I don’t have to worry about it anymore.

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